Iceland's Top 2% Scientists 2025: Career-Long List
Iceland has 78 scientists on the 2025 career-long Top 2% list, up 23.8% from 63 in 2024. That places Iceland 64th in the world by number of listed scientists, down 1 place. Haskoli Islands has the most listed scientists (33), followed by Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland (9).
Scientists in Iceland on the list, by year
The career-long count has grown 81% since 2020.
Show the numbers
| Year | Single Year | Change | Career Data | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 42 | 43 | ||
| 2021 | 51 | +21.4% | 50 | +16.3% |
| 2022 | 51 | +0.0% | 55 | +10.0% |
| 2023 | 57 | +11.8% | 64 | +16.4% |
| 2024 | 59 | +3.5% | 63 | -1.6% |
| 2025 | 66 | +11.9% | 78 | +23.8% |
Top 10 institutes in Iceland
By number of listed scientists
All 78 scientists
| Rank in Iceland | World rank | Scientist | Institute | Sub-field | Rank in sub-field |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 894 | Haskoli Islands | Networking & Telecommunications | Rank 4 | |
| 2 | 5,980 | Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland | Gastroenterology & Hepatology | Rank 100 | |
| 3 | 6,616 | Haskoli Islands | Fisheries | Rank 5 | |
| 4 | 7,653 | Haskoli Islands | Geological & Geomatics Engineering | Rank 19 | |
| 5 | 8,738 | Haskoli Islands | Pharmacology & Pharmacy | Rank 55 | |
| 6 | 20,729 | Haskoli Islands | Ophthalmology & Optometry | Rank 98 | |
| 7 | 22,089 | deCODE genetics | Developmental Biology | Rank 844 | |
| 8 | 27,907 | Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland | Geochemistry & Geophysics | Rank 465 | |
| 9 | 28,406 | Haskoli Islands | Chemical Physics | Rank 612 | |
| 10 | 29,435 | Icelandic Heart Association | Developmental Biology | Rank 1,064 | |
| 11 | 42,655 | Reykjavík University | Operations Research | Rank 137 | |
| 12 | 49,293 | Vogur Hospital | Substance Abuse | Rank 158 | |
| 13 | 55,125 | Haskoli Islands | Geochemistry & Geophysics | Rank 948 | |
| 14 | 56,807 | Reykjavík University | Networking & Telecommunications | Rank 480 | |
| 15 | 62,070 | Haskoli Islands | Evolutionary Biology | Rank 542 | |
| 16 | 66,998 | Reykjavík University | Computation Theory & Mathematics | Rank 171 | |
| 17 | 68,851 | Haskoli Islands | Geochemistry & Geophysics | Rank 1,206 | |
| 18 | 72,027 | Haskoli Islands | Geochemistry & Geophysics | Rank 1,257 | |
| 19 | 72,432 | EpiEndo Pharmaceuticals | Pharmacology & Pharmacy | Rank 634 | |
| 20 | 74,031 | Haskoli Islands | Food Science | Rank 404 | |
| 21 | 75,396 | Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland | Immunology | Rank 2,085 | |
| 22 | 77,355 | Haskoli Islands | Experimental Psychology | Rank 918 | |
| 23 | 78,144 | Haskoli Islands | Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences | Rank 1,199 | |
| 24 | 79,733 | Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland | Immunology | Rank 2,188 | |
| 25 | 82,113 | Haskoli Islands | Fisheries | Rank 178 | |
| 26 | 84,996 | Læknadeild Háskóla Íslands | Dermatology & Venereal Diseases | Rank 532 | |
| 27 | 86,534 | Reykjavík University | Psychiatry | Rank 1,537 | |
| 28 | 89,792 | KMT | Geochemistry & Geophysics | Rank 1,574 | |
| 29 | 93,438 | Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland | Respiratory System | Rank 910 | |
| 30 | 93,632 | Nordic Volcanological Center | Geochemistry & Geophysics | Rank 1,642 | |
| 31 | 97,745 | Nordic Volcanological Center | Geochemistry & Geophysics | Rank 1,711 | |
| 32 | 98,962 | Haskoli Islands | Geochemistry & Geophysics | Rank 1,736 | |
| 33 | 104,310 | Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland | Microbiology | Rank 2,603 | |
| 34 | 105,059 | Reykjavík University | Clinical Psychology | Rank 362 | |
| 35 | 106,356 | Haskoli Islands | Developmental Biology | Rank 2,999 | |
| 36 | 110,176 | deCODE genetics | Developmental Biology | Rank 3,086 | |
| 37 | 110,254 | Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland | Respiratory System | Rank 1,050 | |
| 38 | 113,140 | Haskoli Islands | Geochemistry & Geophysics | Rank 1,950 | |
| 39 | 120,456 | Haskoli Islands | Dentistry | Rank 695 | |
| 40 | 126,899 | Haskoli Islands | Education | Rank 833 | |
| 41 | 137,485 | Akureyri Regional Hospital | Oncology & Carcinogenesis | Rank 5,149 | |
| 42 | 148,302 | Haskoli Islands | Oncology & Carcinogenesis | Rank 5,514 | |
| 43 | 152,819 | Raunvísindastofnun Háskólans | Physical Chemistry | Rank 538 | |
| 44 | 152,829 |
MM
|
School of Health Sciences | Pharmacology & Pharmacy | Rank 1,430 |
| 45 | 159,314 | School of Health Sciences | Pharmacology & Pharmacy | Rank 1,498 | |
| 46 | 161,025 |
LG
|
Haskoli Islands | Archaeology | Rank 165 |
| 47 | 166,743 | Hripa ehf | Microbiology | Rank 4,036 | |
| 48 | 170,884 | Icelandic Cancer Registry | Oncology & Carcinogenesis | Rank 6,300 | |
| 49 | 177,104 | Læknadeild Háskóla Íslands | Environmental & Occupational Health | Rank 177 | |
| 50 | 177,999 | Haskoli Islands | Microbiology | Rank 4,289 | |
| 51 | 186,317 | Haskoli Islands | Fisheries | Rank 514 | |
| 52 | 189,956 | Haskoli Islands | Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing | Rank 4,116 | |
| 53 | 199,678 |
WB
|
Haskoli Islands | Chemical Engineering | Rank 1,072 |
| 54 | 200,200 | Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland | Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine | Rank 1,908 | |
| 55 | 206,136 | Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland | Ophthalmology & Optometry | Rank 1,520 | |
| 56 | 223,806 | Læknadeild Háskóla Íslands | Anesthesiology | Rank 934 | |
| 57 | 230,345 | Raunvísindastofnun Háskólans | Fisheries | Rank 714 | |
| 58 | 231,454 | Haskoli Islands | Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry | Rank 988 | |
| 59 | 252,297 | Marine and Freshwater Research Institute | Fisheries | Rank 814 | |
| 60 | 256,548 | School of Health Sciences | Nursing | Rank 851 | |
| 61 | 271,511 | Raunvísindastofnun Háskólans | Applied Physics | Rank 7,422 | |
| 62 | 282,287 | DTE ehf | Optics | Rank 1,138 | |
| 63 | 287,892 |
WL
|
Reykjavík University | Networking & Telecommunications | Rank 2,943 |
| 64 | 289,526 | Haskoli Islands | Dentistry | Rank 1,873 | |
| 65 | 290,683 | School of Health Sciences | Nursing | Rank 1,034 | |
| 66 | 297,322 | School of Health Sciences | Nursing | Rank 1,070 | |
| 67 | 297,375 | Haskoli Islands | Strategic, Defence & Security Studies | Rank 386 | |
| 68 | 302,392 | Háskólinn á Akureyri | Nursing | Rank 1,099 | |
| 69 | 307,392 | Icelandic Meteorological Office | Building & Construction | Rank 987 | |
| 70 | 341,325 | School of Health Sciences | Nursing | Rank 1,276 | |
| 71 | 346,741 | Haskoli Islands | Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing | Rank 7,988 | |
| 72 | 352,292 |
AL
|
Reykjavík University | Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing | Rank 8,124 |
| 73 | 373,896 | Haskoli Islands | Logistics & Transportation | Rank 785 | |
| 74 | 378,508 |
VP
|
The Krafla | General & Internal Medicine | Rank 5,049 |
| 75 | 390,992 | Haskoli Islands | Energy | Rank 6,896 | |
| 76 | 465,808 | Haskoli Islands | Folklore | Rank 3 | |
| 77 | 509,951 |
HE
|
Haskoli Islands | Networking & Telecommunications | Rank 5,628 |
| 78 | 510,544 | Reykjavík University | Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing | Rank 12,382 | |
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Frequently asked questions
How many scientists from Iceland are in the 2025 Stanford Top 2% list?
66 scientists affiliated with Iceland are on the 2025 single-year list, and 78 are on the career-long list.
Which institute in Iceland has the most Top 2% scientists?
On the 2025 career-long list, Haskoli Islands has the most listed scientists from Iceland, with 33. It is followed by Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland with 9.
How has the number of Top 2% scientists in Iceland changed since 2020?
On the career-long list, Iceland went from 43 scientists in 2020 to 78 in 2025, a change of +81.4%.
What is the difference between the single-year and career-long lists?
The single-year list ranks scientists on the citations their work received in one year. The career-long list ranks them on citations across their whole career. Both lists are published every year, and a scientist can be on one, both or neither.
What is the official source of this data?
The rankings come from the science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators published by Ioannidis et al. in the Elsevier Data Repository, updated every year. TOPSCINET, an independent platform, organises that data by country, year, institute and field, so you can compare and explore it.